U City acquires a pan-European hotel worth Bt12.30 billion

The deal is expected to be completed by July 31 2017.
U City’s hospitality business will expand considerably and diversify geographically across a further 9 European countries.
The acquisition is through a 100 per cent held Austrian acquisition company (AcquiCo) to acquire Vienna International Hotel Management AG (Vienna House) and 8 hotels in Central and Eastern Europe from Austrian and Polish-listed property developer Warimpex Finanz- und Beteiligungs AG (Warimpex).
Piyaporn Phanachet, CEO of U City commented on the investment: "This is U City's strategic acquisition to diversity our hotel investment portfolio beyond Asia across to Europe in both established and fast-growing markets. This will add another 4,100 owned hotel keys at Bt2.6 million per key to our portfolio as well as international brands such as: upscale, design brand Vienna House; the smart-casual Vienna House Easy brand; the vibrant, business-inclined angelo by Vienna House brand; and the upscale, modern, designer andel’s by Vienna House brand, which will be a platform for further growth.”
The acquisition comprises a portfolio of 24 hotels in the form of freehold, finance lease and operating lease hotels totaling over 4,100 keys. 16 hotels are under Vienna House located in cities and towns across Germany. 8 hotels from Warimpex are located in cities and towns in Czech Republic, Poland and Romania. In addition, the transaction includes a management platform which operates these 24 hotels plus an additional 12 third party hotels (together totaling over 6,700 keys) located in cities and towns in Austria, Belarus, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Russia and Slovakia.
U City will be financing the transaction with a combination of new loans from financial institutions and existing cash. For 2017, U City expects AcquiCo to have consolidated revenue of approximately EUR 115 million (Bt4.3 billion) and EBITDA of approximately EUR 26 million (Bt970 million). The AcquiCo is expected to see compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20 per cent over the next 4 years.